Unit Title: Figurative Language with Multi-Media Essential Question: How can an author’s words help you see the movie in your head? Length: Eight 70-minute classes Grade: 8th grade humanities course Student population: 100% inner-city, African American, native English speakers. With minimal modification, my co-teacher simultaneously taught this to another section with 60% IEP students. Guiding Massachusetts Frameworks: Various ELA standards, but especially strands 8 (“Understanding a Text”), 14 (“Poetry”), 15 (“Style and Language”), 18 (“Dramatic Reading and Performance”), and 20 (“Consideration of Audience and Purpose”). Major topics: Similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, mood, and media literacy. Total items: 16
1.Similes through Michael Jordan: pairing the film Space Jam with the poem “Dib Dab” · Sources: · Space Jam, DVD, directed by Joe Pytka (New York: Warner Brothers, 1996). · “Dib Dab,” excerpted from Joker, Joker, Deuce by Paul Beatty (New York: Penguin Books, 1994). · Length: The film clip was approximately two minutes and ran from 47:10-48:50. The poem “Dib Dab” in its entirety is nine stanzas. · Scaffolding:Space Jam did not require scaffolding. At the eighth grade level, “Dib Dab” was accessible with scaffolding. Many of the poem’s references were obscure (Billy Dee Williams and Eric Dolphy, for example), and so I chose to excerpt only the stanza on Michael Jordan. The stanza featured difficult vocabulary words that I defined for the students with footnotes (“marionette” and “Heian kimono silk”). The images of the poem were also not immediately evident to the students, and so I had to walk the students through it to explain the extended simile. · Usage notes: · I used these resources to introduce similes and the essential question. The idea of matching the film with the poem was to introduce the concept of a “movie in your head” by comparing what kids see on screen to what they can see through similes and figurative language in poetry. These two resources both use similes. The background music for the film clip features Seal singing “Fly like an Eagle.” The poem “Dib Dab” describes famous African Americans using the refrain of the smile “smooth as.” · Methodology: Students watched the clip of Space Jam, and then the teacher had them share and record what Michael Jordan did in the scene (verbs) and what he was like (adjectives). Then, the class read the simile-filled stanza from “Dib Dab.” After deconstructing the similes and images as a class, the students used a graphic organizer to expand their previously brainstormed verbs and adjectives into similes. For example, he “shot” became “he shot like a cop.” · Timing: completion of this methodology took 60 minutes. · The worksheet and graphic organizer for this activity is included in the “Appendix #1” of this ARL. · Visual learners will benefit from this approach to bridging similes. Also, students who might initially be daunted by poetry found it less scary after the movie hooked them. My musical learners also connected well with the poem—one student even rapped the stanza from “Dib Dab” for the class! My students with an interest in basketball (many of whom wear Jordan sneakers) appreciated watching and reading about their hero. 2.Similes in “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou · Sources: · The text of the poem is available online (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-i-rise/). · An audio recording of Maya Angelou reading the poem is available to download on Apple itunes for $6.99 (Maya Angelou. And Still I Rise [Unabridged Selections]. 1996.) · Length: The poem was two pages long, and the audio recording of Maya Angelou reading it was 2:20min. · Scaffolding: The poem required significant scaffolding to be understood at the eighth grade level. I defined the difficult words (like “beset”) using footnotes on the handout. To help the students make connections to difficult material, I included a brief, 3-sentence biography of Maya Angelou in a footnote. I also set up a teacher-led discussion that broke down the stanzas and the meaning of the similes. · Usage notes: · I used this poem for students to practice identifying similes. The poem also has vivid metaphors and personification, and so we returned to the poem after learning about these two other types of figurative language. · Methodology: I created a simile table on the board that had one column for “line number,” another for “comparison,” and another for “image it creates.” The students and I recorded the similes they found according to this structure. For example: line number 7, “herself—oil wells,” “something black, valuable, and hidden.” Then we compared the images to surmise the total meaning. · Timing: To do this poem well and to truly extract the meaning took at least 35 minutes. However, in a different section my co-teacher decided that the thematic concerns were less important in this context than the figurative language practice, and he taught it in 20 minutes. He did not go into the poem in terms of theme, deeper meanings, and earth/sky/racial politics. By directing students to the stanzas and line numbers with similes, he saved a lot of time. · All of my students are African American, and so there was potential for all of them to connect to the racial theme of the poem. Half of my students enjoyed this poem and became engaged in a discussion of the racial implications of the theme/images, and the other half was daunted by how abstract it was. Audio learners benefited from listening to Maya Angelou’s recording, and her dramatic, sassy reading entertained all of us.
Metaphor
3.Extended metaphor in “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane · Sources: · The lyrics of the song are available online (http://www.metrolyrics.com/life-is-a-highway-lyrics-rascal-flatts.html). · An audio recording of Rascal Flatts singing the poem is available to download on Apple itunes for $0.99. (Rascal Flatts. “Life is a Highway.” Cars (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture). Tom Cochrane. Walk Disney Records compact disc, 2006.). I chose this version of the song because the students were familiar with it from the recent Pixar movie Cars. · Length: This version of the song is 4:37min, but because the chorus repeats a lot it is not necessary to listen to it in its entirety if the teacher is pressed for time. · Scaffolding: The poem required no scaffolding to be understood at the eighth grade level. The students were familiar with it, and many sang along. · Usage notes: · I used this poem to illustrate an extended metaphor. The very first line of the song is also a simile. · Methodology: I distributed a worksheet with the lyrics to the song. As I played the recording, students underlined the images that extended the metaphor. Then we had a teacher led discussion about how the comparisons that extend the metaphor relate both to “life” and to “highways.” For example, how can “sometimes you bend” refer to both life and driving? · To see the worksheet I created, see Appendix #2. · Timing: We completed this activity in 13 minutes. · This song appealed to the auditory learners in my class, and the written lyrics assisted the visual learners. The musical learners in my class also enjoyed singing along. Although my students primarily listen to rap and hip-hop, this song was a hit, and throughout the rest of the unit they kept requesting that I play it. The movie Cars, which features this song, came out when they were young, and so they had a connection to the Rascal Flatts version of song.
4.Extended metaphor in “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes · Sources: · The text of the poem is available online (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mother-to-son/). · An audio recording of Langston Hughes performing the poem is part of Harlem Speaks book and CD collection. (HarlemSpeaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance. Ed. Cary D. Wintz. Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2007). · Length: The text of the poem is half a page long. The recording of the poem is 57 seconds. · Scaffolding: This poem would require scaffolding to teach it at an eighth grade level. Although the vocabulary is written in the basic vernacular of a southern woman, the greater themes and the context of the poem require scaffolding through teacher discussion. · Usage notes: · This poem could be used to illustrate an extended metaphor. It could also be used to explain poetic voice, especially as performed by Langston Hughes. · Methodology: Students could listen to a recording of this poem and circle all of the components that extend the metaphor. Then they could explain how the metaphor relates both to “life” and the not-so “crystal stair.” · A study of this poem could have been a powerful way to tie figurative language into social studies by discussing the context and themes of the poem. · Even though I did not ultimately use this poem in my unit, I considered it because it was powerful Harlem Renaissance poetry with a message that would appeal to my class of all African American students. It also seemed more canonical than “Life is a Highway,” although perhaps not as catchy. Langston Hughes’s moving reading is gripping to any audience, but especially for auditory learners. 5.Extended metaphor in “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr. · Sources: · The text of the speech is available online (http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html). · An audio recording of Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering the speech is available on itunes for $0.99. (Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream — Washington D.C. 8/28/63.” Greatest Speeches of All Time, Vol. 1. 1996. ) · Length: The text of the speech is four pages long. The recording of the address is 6:07 minutes. · Scaffolding: This speech would require scaffolding to teach it at an eighth grade level. The vocabulary is at a high school level, and many of the references (both Biblical and historical) would be obscure to many students. I scaffolded this poem by taking an excerpt, defining difficult vocabulary words and historical references with footnotes, highlighting figurative language for the students, and explaining the particularly difficult extended metaphor. · Usage notes: · Use of this primary-source document creates the opportunity to discuss with students how figurative language (even hyperbole) can strengthen an author’s point in a nonfiction account. · This speech is full of powerful figurative language. Although it uses over ten metaphors, it also has similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and personification. · Methodology: Students could listen to the recording of the speech while following along with the scaffolded text of it. Then, students could have independent time to identify the types of figurative language used in the speech. At the end, the teacher could walk students through the extended metaphor of a bad check (“Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”) · A study of this speech could be a powerful way to tie figurative language into social studies by discussing the context and themes of the speech. The figurative language creates provocative images to back up his words, and students could dissect how the images leave a greater impact than if he had chosen not to use figurative language. · To see the worksheet I created, see Appendix #3. · This speech would be a challenge for an eighth grade teacher and students; however, the opportunity to dissect such a powerful speech through the lens of figurative language is an dual opportunity to address both the ELA and historical content of a humanities class. My African American students would have enjoyed this poem for its pop culture familiarity and for its racial message (especially in light of Barack Obama’s presidential win). I think they would have struggled with the vocabulary, but the personal connection to the speech could have successfully hooked them.
Personification
6.Personification in the cartoon “Silent Kimbly” by Ryan Sias · Sources: · “Silent Kimbly” is a clever comic strip published online that draws upon wordplay for its humor. Its cartoons use homophones, puns, and even personification to construct the jokes. · “The Flowers Blanketed the Field” by Ryan Sias (http://www.silentkimbly.com/2007/06/19/blanlets/) · “The Wind Whips Over the Beach” by Ryan Sias (http://www.silentkimbly.com/2007/05/28/wind-whips/) · Length: Each of these comic strips is one panel. The drawings are full-color and very detailed, which gives students a lot of eye candy to enjoy. The cartoonist also cleverly includes both the literal and the figurative meaning in his cartoons, and so the panel of the “wind whips” shows both the “wind” personified with a whip and a big breeze. · Scaffolding: These cartoons required no scaffolding. · Usage notes: · I used these cartoons for students to practice deciphering the literal and figurative meaning of personification. · Methodology: After introducing and defining personification, I printed out a worksheet with these two cartoons pasted on it. Students had five minutes to circle the verb that created the personification, and then they wrote a sentence about the meaning. · To see the worksheet I created, see Appendix #4. · Alternate activity: Students could look at these comic strips and then draw their own panel that uses personification for wordplay. · This activity was a hit with my visual learners, who had worked with Kimbly cartoons during a homophone day I taught a few weeks previously. As a teacher, it was a fun, fast practice with personification that could easily work as a Do Now. 7.Personification in TV ads · Sources:[[#_ftn1|[1]]] · “It’s Mine” for Coca Cola. This ad shows two Thanksgiving Day parade balloons fighting over a Coca Cola bottle balloon. This ad is entertaining and suspenseful, with a surprise ending. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMf5cCDy1I&feature=related). Clip length: 1min. Note: Emmy nominee for outstanding commercial in 2008. · “Animals” starring Ellen DeGeneres for American Express. This ad shows a day in the life of Ellen as she collaborates with her animal co-workers. It is a hilarious, albeit long, advertisement. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LR-IZbbc0). Clip length: 2min. Note: Emmy winner for Outstanding Commercial in 2007. · “Angry Chicken” for Nike. This ad shows a man running with his Nike shoes through the streets of a foreign city as an angry chicken chases him. The ad is intentionally narrated in French with intentionally minimal dubbing in English. The narration and ridiculousness of it are hilarious, and the chicken definitely personifies a human emotion. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzS1ldA4v3E). Clip length: 1min. Note: Emmy winner for outstanding commercial in 2003. · “Baby Come Back” for Swiffer Sweeper Vacuum. In this ad, a woman “breaks up” with her old mop for a Swiffer, and her old mop tries to seduce her back in the hot tub. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKZg_qLiIj8&NR=1). Clip length: 30sec. · Length: These ads range from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The timing of this lesson will vary depending on how many clips the teacher chooses to show. · Scaffolding: No scaffolding was necessary for eighth graders. However, some students were turned off by the French narration in the Nike ad, even though it was an American commercial whose humor derived from the intentionally simplistic dubbing. · Usage · I used these ads to tie together the learning goals (figurative language) and the summative assessment project (creating an ad campaign). Even for classes that are not doing advertising projects, these commercials are an entertaining and fun way to practice identifying personification. · Methodology: I played the ads using a computer and a projector. Then I had students tell me what was being personified (for example: a chicken) and how it was acting like a person (for example: the chicken was angry, which is a human emotion). · This activity was a low-key introduction to personification for my students, and they enjoyed sitting back and watching TV for a few minutes after several days of demanding simile and metaphor lessons. The Swiffer Ad was a particular hit since it is currently broadcast of TV (fall 2008). Visual and auditory learners benefited from this, and the humor in the ads appealed to everyone.
Onomatopoeia
8.Onomatopoeia in comic books (various sources) · Sources: · The Comics Since 1945 edited by Brian Walker (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2002). This book has 336 pages of a variety of comic strips through the decades, and many of them use onomatopoeia. · Calvin and Hobbes: It’s a Magical World by Bill Watterson (Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1996). · 300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Books, 1999). · Toda Mafalda by Quino (Buenos Aires: Ediciones de la flor, 1993). · Length: These comic strips vary by length, from three panels to a full color spread in a Sunday newspaper to an entire book (300). · Scaffolding: The English language cartoons required no scaffolding. The Mafalda cartoon is in Spanish, but with a quick translation on the PowerPoint is was accessible to my students, who were concurrently enrolled in a Spanish 1 class. · Usage notes: · I used these cartoons for students to be exposed to various types of onomatopoeia. · Methodology: After introducing and defining onomatopoeia, I created a PowerPoint presentation showcasing comic strips with onomatopoeia. Then, I had students read the comics out loud. This could also be done through a worksheet, but I preferred a PowerPoint because it allowed me to showcase the full color of the Sunday cartoons. · Timing: This activity could take from 5-15 minutes, depending on how many comic strips the teacher selects. It took me several hours to prepare the PowerPoint because I had to hunt through several comic books before I found strips that satisfied me. · Social Studies Application: I chose a Mafalda cartoon with a sheep that says “Bééé!” (“Baaa! in English) to demonstrate that onomatopoeia is not the same across languages. I also used a politically-charged Mafalda comic strip from the 1960s to show how figurative language in his comic strip was a way for Quino to write subversively about the Argentine government without getting imprisoned. My students seemed to buy into the idea that in places where there is no free speech, figurative language is a tool to voice your opinion while outsmarting the government in power. · Tie-in activity: For homework, I had students create their own comic strips using onomatopoeia. · This activity was a lot of fun to prepare and to teach. The excuse to pour through comic books and collect my favorites was a treat for me. My theatrically-inclined students enjoyed reading the comic strips out loud, and the visual learners enjoyed the splash of color on the screen. The boys in my class, who have all seen the movie 300 and talked about it incessantly during our Ancient Rome unit, instantly recognized and connected with the original comic strip. Everyone in the class also got a laugh from the comics, especially the Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin belches and barfs over his dinner. The Spanish-learners in the class enjoyed hearing me make animal noises in Spanish (like “gua-gua” for “woof-woof”). I highly recommend comic books to teach onomatopoeia! 9.A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens · Source:A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008). · Length: To create the sound effects of the battle, in chapter 21 Dickens uses onomatopoeia and alliteration to highlight the noise and confusion of the scene. The chapter is ten pages long, and it uses figurative language throughout. · Scaffolding: This passage is difficult for students at the eighth grade level, especially since they are typically unfamiliar with the book. To make it accessible, a teacher could select a small passage and have students identify the onomatopoeia in it (For example: “Flashing weapons, blazing torches, smoking wagon-loads of wet straw, hard work at neighbouring barricades in all directions, shrieks, volleys, execrations, bravery without stint, boom, smash and rattle, and the furious sounding of the living sea.”) The teacher could use footnotes to define new words. · Usage note: · Although this source material is more difficult than comic strips, I believe looking at onomatopoeia in literature is essential for students to create transfer in student learning. By identifying figurative language in a book, students understand that onomatopoeia encompasses more than comic books. · I used a small quote from this passage to give students an example of onomatopoeia in literature, but we did not go into the passage in depth. · This source is useful to create transfer in student learning. Visual learners would benefit from reading the text, and auditory learners could follow along if a teacher or a student read it out loud.
Hyperbole
10.Hyperbole in The Giver by Lois Lowry · Source:The Giver by Lois Lowry (New York: Delacorte Press, 1993). · Length: In chapter 9, Jonas remembers being conditioned that “I’m starving” is a hyperbolic lie. The passage goes: “Once, when he had been a Four, he had said, just prior to the midday meal at school, ‘I’m starving.’ Immediately he had been taken aside for a brief private lesson in language precision. He was not starving, it was pointed out. He was hungry. No one in the community was starving, had ever been starving, would ever be starving. To say ‘starving’ was to speak a lie. An unintentional lie, of course. But the reason for precision of language was to ensure that unintentional lies were never uttered” (Lowry, page 70). · Scaffolding: This passage is written at a middle school level. For my students unfamiliar with the book, I explained the premise to show why hyperbole was not allowed in Jonas’s society. People in The Giver are not allowed to exaggerate because they cannot “lie” in a society that emphasizes sameness and perfection. · Usage · After defining hyperbole, I referenced this text as an example of exaggeration. Mention of this passage was meaningful to my students because they read this book the previous year in their seventh grade humanities class, and so it activated previous knowledge to build connections. Even for the students new to the school who had not read the book, it caught their interest that a phrase we take for granted, like “I’m starving,” is technically lying. · This text could be meaningful to students who are familiar with the book. Even for students who do not know The Giver, “I’m starving” is a resonating example of hyperbole that we rarely pause to consider.
Alliteration
11.“Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” by Shel Silverstein · Sources: · The text of the poem is excerpted from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1974). The poem is also available online (http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/courses/ci407su01/students/north/kristy/Project/K-Poem-Net.html). · An audio recording of Shel Silverstein reading the poem is available on Apple itunes for $0.99. “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out,” performed by Shel Silverstein (from the album Where the Sidewalk Ends, 2000). · Length: The poem is two pages long. The audio recording is 2:34 minutes. · Scaffolding: The poem is written at an elementary level, and so it did not require any scaffolding for the eighth graders. · Usage · I used this poem for students to practice uncovering alliteration and hyperbole. The poem is full of colorful alliteration (“Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel, / Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal”). As the garbage grows and grows, the poem explodes in hyperbole (“At last the garbage reached so high / That it finally touched the sky.”). · Methodology: I gave students a handout with the poem printed out. Then, I played the recording of Shel Silverstein reading it twice. While they listened, I had students circle examples of alliteration and hyperbole. Afterwards, students reported back what they found in the poem. · Timing: My students and I discussed alliteration and hyperbole in this poem in 20 minutes. · Shel Silverstein’s reading of this poem is a delight, and it transformed a funny poem into a laugh-out-loud experience. I would recommend that any teacher who uses this poem also pair it with the recording to do it justice. This poem was a huge hit with my eighth graders, and I played it a second time due to popular demand. Everyone laughed, and the elementary-level of the poem made it accessible to all students as they practiced with these figurative language concepts for the first time. It was also a boon to me as a teacher because I could address two types of figurative language in one poem. Auditory learners benefited from the recording, and visual learners were able to read along.
Mood
12.Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD paired with The Dark is Rising · Sources: · Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, DVD, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (New York: Warner Brothers, 2004). · The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973; reprint, New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2007). · Length: The film clip is approximately four minutes (chapter 7, from 18:15 until 22:30). The book The Dark is Rising is 230 pages, but I used only two paragraphs on pages 12-13. · Scaffolding: The film is easily understood by eighth graders, who also did not become scared by the dementors. The book is written at a middle school level, although when I transcribed the text onto a handout I altered the British vocabulary to a more familiar American English vocabulary (“rooks” became “birds”). · Usage · Because mood is the feeling or atmosphere of a scene/passage, students need to be able to visualize the scene that the author paints. To help students visualize what happens in a literary scene, I began the mood lesson with a more visual medium—film—to help them see the components that create mood. After practice on an actual film, we transitioned to a literary passage that created the same mood using words. This approach also emphasized my essential question of “seeing the movie in your head.” · The passage from The Dark is Rising is filled with figurative language, and so it an excellent exercise for students to use to identify similes, metaphors, etc. · Methodology: I showed the clip from the third Harry Potter film where the dementors enter on the train. After watching the clip, I had students write down everything they saw and heard. Then I asked them what mood or atmosphere those elements created. Students replied that it was “ominous,” “creepy,” and “dark.” Then we read a corresponding passage from The Dark is Rising that strikes the same mood using similarly cold, violent weather. I asked the students the same question: what about the author’s description and use of figurative language created a vivid mood? The film bridged mood with the text and emphasized the need to visualize when reading. · To see the worksheet that I used, see Appendix #5. · Timing: The film and passage analysis takes 30-45 minutes. · This approach to mood benefits visual learners and resistant readers. Although most of the students enjoyed the opportunity to watch Harry Potter, two of my evangelical students were not permitted to watch the film, and so they either left the room or put their heads down.
Media Literacy Websites for Students
13.PBS “Don’t Buy it” · Source: PBS Kids: Don’t Buy It—Get Media Smart! Site: http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/ · Length: This is a multi-page website that allows kids to explore the (in)famous tricks that advertisers use to create their ads. · Scaffolding: This website is at a middle school level. The text is minimal, and it uses many graphics and videos. · Highlights of the website: · “What’s in an Ad”: analysis of advertisers’ use of catchy slogans, funny jokes and famous people to sell products. The site has links to familiar Pepsi, Levis, and Cigarette ads. · “Cover model secrets”: Although this isn’t tightly tied to figurative language or ad campaigns, the step-by-step transformation (read: manipulation) of a model’s picture can send an affirming message to middle school girls. · “Create a pop star”: Students choose-their-own-adventure as managers for an up-and-coming popstar. · Methodology: · Teachers could create a scavenger hunt through the website. · If computers are limited, teachers could show students single parts of the website (like “What’s in an Ad” analysis of major advertising campaigns) as a jumping-off point for a class discussion. · A possible follow-up homework assignment could be for students to watch TV or read a magazine and identify one advertising trick that is being used (and perhaps bonus points if the ad also uses figurative language!). · This site would be fun for students who watch a lot of TV because they will be subconsciously familiar with the tricks and the ads cited on this website. Visual learners, auditory learners, and weak readers will also enjoy interacting with the website, including polls on the site.
Media Literacy and Figurative Language Resources for Teachers
14.Teaching Figurative Language: “Immersed in Verse” · Source: “Immersed in Verse.” By Allan Wolf. (Writing, Apr-May 2007, p16-18). · This article gives an overview of essential poetic terms, their definitions, and memorable examples that demonstrate them. For a teacher, this is a critical tool from which to extract sources (beyond the ones presented in this Annotated Resource Library), and it presents a way to explain these terms at a middle school level. · I learned the nitty-gritty differences between similes and metaphors (beyond the simple “like” and “as” tell-tale difference), and it revealed to me the intricacies and hazards of using rhyme. 15.Teaching Poetry Writing: Poetry Café · Source: “The Poetry Café Is Open! Teaching Literary Devices of Sound in Poetry Writing.” By Beth Kovalcik and Janine L. Certo. (Reading Teacher Sep. 2007. p89-93). This source is available on EBSCOHost. · Contents: This is an article by two elementary teachers about how they structured a week of poetry lessons. Although some of their ideas would have to be adapted for a middle school classroom, their approach to “Collaborative Poetry” is excellent. I used a similar technique with my eighth graders, where they brainstormed adjectives and verbs that we later expanded into similes using a graphic organizer. The concept of a café to perform poetry in front of parents and friends is a brilliant summative assessment that also builds classroom culture. 16.The theory of mind behind figurative language · Source: “Mapping Metaphor: This is Your Brain on FigurativeLanguage.”By Kenneth W. Krause (Humanist, Jul/Aug2008, p13-16). This source is available on EBSCOHost. · Contents: This 4-page article provides a survey of scientific findings about how the brain processes figurative language and irony in comparison to literal statements. · Conclusions: · The mind reads salient/common metaphors differently from novel ones. For example, a common/clichéd metaphor like “She worked like a hurricane” activates the left side of the brain in the same way that a literal statement would. However, more complex comparisons (that can be either metaphors, similes or uncommon comparisons such as “the camel was a good friend”) activate the right side of the brain. This distinction not only explains why a student’s head may hurt after tackling complex metaphors, but furthermore it shows that there is an actual biological response to clichéd metaphors beyond the typical cringe. · It shows that there is an actual biological process for understanding figurative language. Aha! So mixing metaphors could actually be considered good brain exercise for unwilling students…
[[#_ftnref1|[1]]] The You Tube links for these clips are current as of December 2008. If the link becomes broken, I recommend you search on You Tube using the title of the ad and the product name.
Table of Contents
Figurative Language with Multi-Media
by Kate Maloney (T-213 2008)Background
Unit Title: Figurative Language with Multi-MediaEssential Question: How can an author’s words help you see the movie in your head?
Length: Eight 70-minute classes
Grade: 8th grade humanities course
Student population: 100% inner-city, African American, native English speakers. With minimal modification, my co-teacher simultaneously taught this to another section with 60% IEP students.
Guiding Massachusetts Frameworks: Various ELA standards, but especially strands 8 (“Understanding a Text”), 14 (“Poetry”), 15 (“Style and Language”), 18 (“Dramatic Reading and Performance”), and 20 (“Consideration of Audience and Purpose”).
Major topics: Similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, mood, and media literacy.
Total items: 16
Resources
Similies
· Sources:
· Space Jam, DVD, directed by Joe Pytka (New York: Warner Brothers, 1996).
· “Dib Dab,” excerpted from Joker, Joker, Deuce by Paul Beatty (New York: Penguin Books, 1994).
· Length: The film clip was approximately two minutes and ran from 47:10-48:50. The poem “Dib Dab” in its entirety is nine stanzas.
· Scaffolding: Space Jam did not require scaffolding. At the eighth grade level, “Dib Dab” was accessible with scaffolding. Many of the poem’s references were obscure (Billy Dee Williams and Eric Dolphy, for example), and so I chose to excerpt only the stanza on Michael Jordan. The stanza featured difficult vocabulary words that I defined for the students with footnotes (“marionette” and “Heian kimono silk”). The images of the poem were also not immediately evident to the students, and so I had to walk the students through it to explain the extended simile.
· Usage notes:
· I used these resources to introduce similes and the essential question. The idea of matching the film with the poem was to introduce the concept of a “movie in your head” by comparing what kids see on screen to what they can see through similes and figurative language in poetry. These two resources both use similes. The background music for the film clip features Seal singing “Fly like an Eagle.” The poem “Dib Dab” describes famous African Americans using the refrain of the smile “smooth as.”
· Methodology: Students watched the clip of Space Jam, and then the teacher had them share and record what Michael Jordan did in the scene (verbs) and what he was like (adjectives). Then, the class read the simile-filled stanza from “Dib Dab.” After deconstructing the similes and images as a class, the students used a graphic organizer to expand their previously brainstormed verbs and adjectives into similes. For example, he “shot” became “he shot like a cop.”
· Timing: completion of this methodology took 60 minutes.
· The worksheet and graphic organizer for this activity is included in the “Appendix #1” of this ARL.
· Visual learners will benefit from this approach to bridging similes. Also, students who might initially be daunted by poetry found it less scary after the movie hooked them. My musical learners also connected well with the poem—one student even rapped the stanza from “Dib Dab” for the class! My students with an interest in basketball (many of whom wear Jordan sneakers) appreciated watching and reading about their hero.
2. Similes in “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
· Sources:
· The text of the poem is available online (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-i-rise/).
· An audio recording of Maya Angelou reading the poem is available to download on Apple itunes for $6.99 (Maya Angelou. And Still I Rise [Unabridged Selections]. 1996.)
· Length: The poem was two pages long, and the audio recording of Maya Angelou reading it was 2:20min.
· Scaffolding: The poem required significant scaffolding to be understood at the eighth grade level. I defined the difficult words (like “beset”) using footnotes on the handout. To help the students make connections to difficult material, I included a brief, 3-sentence biography of Maya Angelou in a footnote. I also set up a teacher-led discussion that broke down the stanzas and the meaning of the similes.
· Usage notes:
· I used this poem for students to practice identifying similes. The poem also has vivid metaphors and personification, and so we returned to the poem after learning about these two other types of figurative language.
· Methodology: I created a simile table on the board that had one column for “line number,” another for “comparison,” and another for “image it creates.” The students and I recorded the similes they found according to this structure. For example: line number 7, “herself—oil wells,” “something black, valuable, and hidden.” Then we compared the images to surmise the total meaning.
· Timing: To do this poem well and to truly extract the meaning took at least 35 minutes. However, in a different section my co-teacher decided that the thematic concerns were less important in this context than the figurative language practice, and he taught it in 20 minutes. He did not go into the poem in terms of theme, deeper meanings, and earth/sky/racial politics. By directing students to the stanzas and line numbers with similes, he saved a lot of time.
· All of my students are African American, and so there was potential for all of them to connect to the racial theme of the poem. Half of my students enjoyed this poem and became engaged in a discussion of the racial implications of the theme/images, and the other half was daunted by how abstract it was. Audio learners benefited from listening to Maya Angelou’s recording, and her dramatic, sassy reading entertained all of us.
Metaphor
· Sources:
· The lyrics of the song are available online (http://www.metrolyrics.com/life-is-a-highway-lyrics-rascal-flatts.html).
· An audio recording of Rascal Flatts singing the poem is available to download on Apple itunes for $0.99. (Rascal Flatts. “Life is a Highway.” Cars (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture). Tom Cochrane. Walk Disney Records compact disc, 2006.). I chose this version of the song because the students were familiar with it from the recent Pixar movie Cars.
· Length: This version of the song is 4:37min, but because the chorus repeats a lot it is not necessary to listen to it in its entirety if the teacher is pressed for time.
· Scaffolding: The poem required no scaffolding to be understood at the eighth grade level. The students were familiar with it, and many sang along.
· Usage notes:
· I used this poem to illustrate an extended metaphor. The very first line of the song is also a simile.
· Methodology: I distributed a worksheet with the lyrics to the song. As I played the recording, students underlined the images that extended the metaphor. Then we had a teacher led discussion about how the comparisons that extend the metaphor relate both to “life” and to “highways.” For example, how can “sometimes you bend” refer to both life and driving?
· To see the worksheet I created, see Appendix #2.
· Timing: We completed this activity in 13 minutes.
· This song appealed to the auditory learners in my class, and the written lyrics assisted the visual learners. The musical learners in my class also enjoyed singing along. Although my students primarily listen to rap and hip-hop, this song was a hit, and throughout the rest of the unit they kept requesting that I play it. The movie Cars, which features this song, came out when they were young, and so they had a connection to the Rascal Flatts version of song.
· Sources:
· The text of the poem is available online (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mother-to-son/).
· An audio recording of Langston Hughes performing the poem is part of Harlem Speaks book and CD collection. (Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance. Ed. Cary D. Wintz. Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2007).
· Length: The text of the poem is half a page long. The recording of the poem is 57 seconds.
· Scaffolding: This poem would require scaffolding to teach it at an eighth grade level. Although the vocabulary is written in the basic vernacular of a southern woman, the greater themes and the context of the poem require scaffolding through teacher discussion.
· Usage notes:
· This poem could be used to illustrate an extended metaphor. It could also be used to explain poetic voice, especially as performed by Langston Hughes.
· Methodology: Students could listen to a recording of this poem and circle all of the components that extend the metaphor. Then they could explain how the metaphor relates both to “life” and the not-so “crystal stair.”
· A study of this poem could have been a powerful way to tie figurative language into social studies by discussing the context and themes of the poem.
· Even though I did not ultimately use this poem in my unit, I considered it because it was powerful Harlem Renaissance poetry with a message that would appeal to my class of all African American students. It also seemed more canonical than “Life is a Highway,” although perhaps not as catchy. Langston Hughes’s moving reading is gripping to any audience, but especially for auditory learners.
5. Extended metaphor in “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
· Sources:
· The text of the speech is available online (http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html).
· An audio recording of Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering the speech is available on itunes for $0.99. (Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream — Washington D.C. 8/28/63.” Greatest Speeches of All Time, Vol. 1. 1996. )
· Length: The text of the speech is four pages long. The recording of the address is 6:07 minutes.
· Scaffolding: This speech would require scaffolding to teach it at an eighth grade level. The vocabulary is at a high school level, and many of the references (both Biblical and historical) would be obscure to many students. I scaffolded this poem by taking an excerpt, defining difficult vocabulary words and historical references with footnotes, highlighting figurative language for the students, and explaining the particularly difficult extended metaphor.
· Usage notes:
· Use of this primary-source document creates the opportunity to discuss with students how figurative language (even hyperbole) can strengthen an author’s point in a nonfiction account.
· This speech is full of powerful figurative language. Although it uses over ten metaphors, it also has similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and personification.
· Methodology: Students could listen to the recording of the speech while following along with the scaffolded text of it. Then, students could have independent time to identify the types of figurative language used in the speech. At the end, the teacher could walk students through the extended metaphor of a bad check (“Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”)
· A study of this speech could be a powerful way to tie figurative language into social studies by discussing the context and themes of the speech. The figurative language creates provocative images to back up his words, and students could dissect how the images leave a greater impact than if he had chosen not to use figurative language.
· To see the worksheet I created, see Appendix #3.
· This speech would be a challenge for an eighth grade teacher and students; however, the opportunity to dissect such a powerful speech through the lens of figurative language is an dual opportunity to address both the ELA and historical content of a humanities class. My African American students would have enjoyed this poem for its pop culture familiarity and for its racial message (especially in light of Barack Obama’s presidential win). I think they would have struggled with the vocabulary, but the personal connection to the speech could have successfully hooked them.
Personification
· Sources:
· “Silent Kimbly” is a clever comic strip published online that draws upon wordplay for its humor. Its cartoons use homophones, puns, and even personification to construct the jokes.
· “The Flowers Blanketed the Field” by Ryan Sias (http://www.silentkimbly.com/2007/06/19/blanlets/)
· “The Wind Whips Over the Beach” by Ryan Sias (http://www.silentkimbly.com/2007/05/28/wind-whips/)
· Length: Each of these comic strips is one panel. The drawings are full-color and very detailed, which gives students a lot of eye candy to enjoy. The cartoonist also cleverly includes both the literal and the figurative meaning in his cartoons, and so the panel of the “wind whips” shows both the “wind” personified with a whip and a big breeze.
· Scaffolding: These cartoons required no scaffolding.
· Usage notes:
· I used these cartoons for students to practice deciphering the literal and figurative meaning of personification.
· Methodology: After introducing and defining personification, I printed out a worksheet with these two cartoons pasted on it. Students had five minutes to circle the verb that created the personification, and then they wrote a sentence about the meaning.
· To see the worksheet I created, see Appendix #4.
· Alternate activity: Students could look at these comic strips and then draw their own panel that uses personification for wordplay.
· This activity was a hit with my visual learners, who had worked with Kimbly cartoons during a homophone day I taught a few weeks previously. As a teacher, it was a fun, fast practice with personification that could easily work as a Do Now.
7. Personification in TV ads
· Sources:[[#_ftn1|[1]]]
· “It’s Mine” for Coca Cola. This ad shows two Thanksgiving Day parade balloons fighting over a Coca Cola bottle balloon. This ad is entertaining and suspenseful, with a surprise ending. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMf5cCDy1I&feature=related). Clip length: 1min. Note: Emmy nominee for outstanding commercial in 2008.
· “Animals” starring Ellen DeGeneres for American Express. This ad shows a day in the life of Ellen as she collaborates with her animal co-workers. It is a hilarious, albeit long, advertisement. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LR-IZbbc0). Clip length: 2min. Note: Emmy winner for Outstanding Commercial in 2007.
· “Angry Chicken” for Nike. This ad shows a man running with his Nike shoes through the streets of a foreign city as an angry chicken chases him. The ad is intentionally narrated in French with intentionally minimal dubbing in English. The narration and ridiculousness of it are hilarious, and the chicken definitely personifies a human emotion. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzS1ldA4v3E). Clip length: 1min. Note: Emmy winner for outstanding commercial in 2003.
· “Baby Come Back” for Swiffer Sweeper Vacuum. In this ad, a woman “breaks up” with her old mop for a Swiffer, and her old mop tries to seduce her back in the hot tub. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKZg_qLiIj8&NR=1). Clip length: 30sec.
· Length: These ads range from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The timing of this lesson will vary depending on how many clips the teacher chooses to show.
· Scaffolding: No scaffolding was necessary for eighth graders. However, some students were turned off by the French narration in the Nike ad, even though it was an American commercial whose humor derived from the intentionally simplistic dubbing.
· Usage
· I used these ads to tie together the learning goals (figurative language) and the summative assessment project (creating an ad campaign). Even for classes that are not doing advertising projects, these commercials are an entertaining and fun way to practice identifying personification.
· Methodology: I played the ads using a computer and a projector. Then I had students tell me what was being personified (for example: a chicken) and how it was acting like a person (for example: the chicken was angry, which is a human emotion).
· This activity was a low-key introduction to personification for my students, and they enjoyed sitting back and watching TV for a few minutes after several days of demanding simile and metaphor lessons. The Swiffer Ad was a particular hit since it is currently broadcast of TV (fall 2008). Visual and auditory learners benefited from this, and the humor in the ads appealed to everyone.
Onomatopoeia
· Sources:
· The Comics Since 1945 edited by Brian Walker (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2002). This book has 336 pages of a variety of comic strips through the decades, and many of them use onomatopoeia.
· Calvin and Hobbes: It’s a Magical World by Bill Watterson (Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1996).
· 300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Books, 1999).
· Toda Mafalda by Quino (Buenos Aires: Ediciones de la flor, 1993).
· Length: These comic strips vary by length, from three panels to a full color spread in a Sunday newspaper to an entire book (300).
· Scaffolding: The English language cartoons required no scaffolding. The Mafalda cartoon is in Spanish, but with a quick translation on the PowerPoint is was accessible to my students, who were concurrently enrolled in a Spanish 1 class.
· Usage notes:
· I used these cartoons for students to be exposed to various types of onomatopoeia.
· Methodology: After introducing and defining onomatopoeia, I created a PowerPoint presentation showcasing comic strips with onomatopoeia. Then, I had students read the comics out loud. This could also be done through a worksheet, but I preferred a PowerPoint because it allowed me to showcase the full color of the Sunday cartoons.
· Timing: This activity could take from 5-15 minutes, depending on how many comic strips the teacher selects. It took me several hours to prepare the PowerPoint because I had to hunt through several comic books before I found strips that satisfied me.
· Social Studies Application: I chose a Mafalda cartoon with a sheep that says “Bééé!” (“Baaa! in English) to demonstrate that onomatopoeia is not the same across languages. I also used a politically-charged Mafalda comic strip from the 1960s to show how figurative language in his comic strip was a way for Quino to write subversively about the Argentine government without getting imprisoned. My students seemed to buy into the idea that in places where there is no free speech, figurative language is a tool to voice your opinion while outsmarting the government in power.
· Tie-in activity: For homework, I had students create their own comic strips using onomatopoeia.
· This activity was a lot of fun to prepare and to teach. The excuse to pour through comic books and collect my favorites was a treat for me. My theatrically-inclined students enjoyed reading the comic strips out loud, and the visual learners enjoyed the splash of color on the screen. The boys in my class, who have all seen the movie 300 and talked about it incessantly during our Ancient Rome unit, instantly recognized and connected with the original comic strip. Everyone in the class also got a laugh from the comics, especially the Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin belches and barfs over his dinner. The Spanish-learners in the class enjoyed hearing me make animal noises in Spanish (like “gua-gua” for “woof-woof”). I highly recommend comic books to teach onomatopoeia!
9. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
· Source: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).
· Length: To create the sound effects of the battle, in chapter 21 Dickens uses onomatopoeia and alliteration to highlight the noise and confusion of the scene. The chapter is ten pages long, and it uses figurative language throughout.
· Scaffolding: This passage is difficult for students at the eighth grade level, especially since they are typically unfamiliar with the book. To make it accessible, a teacher could select a small passage and have students identify the onomatopoeia in it (For example: “Flashing weapons, blazing torches, smoking wagon-loads of wet straw, hard work at neighbouring barricades in all directions, shrieks, volleys, execrations, bravery without stint, boom, smash and rattle, and the furious sounding of the living sea.”) The teacher could use footnotes to define new words.
· Usage note:
· Although this source material is more difficult than comic strips, I believe looking at onomatopoeia in literature is essential for students to create transfer in student learning. By identifying figurative language in a book, students understand that onomatopoeia encompasses more than comic books.
· I used a small quote from this passage to give students an example of onomatopoeia in literature, but we did not go into the passage in depth.
· This source is useful to create transfer in student learning. Visual learners would benefit from reading the text, and auditory learners could follow along if a teacher or a student read it out loud.
Hyperbole
· Source: The Giver by Lois Lowry (New York: Delacorte Press, 1993).
· Length: In chapter 9, Jonas remembers being conditioned that “I’m starving” is a hyperbolic lie. The passage goes: “Once, when he had been a Four, he had said, just prior to the midday meal at school, ‘I’m starving.’ Immediately he had been taken aside for a brief private lesson in language precision. He was not starving, it was pointed out. He was hungry. No one in the community was starving, had ever been starving, would ever be starving. To say ‘starving’ was to speak a lie. An unintentional lie, of course. But the reason for precision of language was to ensure that unintentional lies were never uttered” (Lowry, page 70).
· Scaffolding: This passage is written at a middle school level. For my students unfamiliar with the book, I explained the premise to show why hyperbole was not allowed in Jonas’s society. People in The Giver are not allowed to exaggerate because they cannot “lie” in a society that emphasizes sameness and perfection.
· Usage
· After defining hyperbole, I referenced this text as an example of exaggeration. Mention of this passage was meaningful to my students because they read this book the previous year in their seventh grade humanities class, and so it activated previous knowledge to build connections. Even for the students new to the school who had not read the book, it caught their interest that a phrase we take for granted, like “I’m starving,” is technically lying.
· This text could be meaningful to students who are familiar with the book. Even for students who do not know The Giver, “I’m starving” is a resonating example of hyperbole that we rarely pause to consider.
Alliteration
· Sources:
· The text of the poem is excerpted from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1974). The poem is also available online (http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/courses/ci407su01/students/north/kristy/Project/K-Poem-Net.html).
· An audio recording of Shel Silverstein reading the poem is available on Apple itunes for $0.99. “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out,” performed by Shel Silverstein (from the album Where the Sidewalk Ends, 2000).
· Length: The poem is two pages long. The audio recording is 2:34 minutes.
· Scaffolding: The poem is written at an elementary level, and so it did not require any scaffolding for the eighth graders.
· Usage
· I used this poem for students to practice uncovering alliteration and hyperbole. The poem is full of colorful alliteration (“Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel, / Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal”). As the garbage grows and grows, the poem explodes in hyperbole (“At last the garbage reached so high / That it finally touched the sky.”).
· Methodology: I gave students a handout with the poem printed out. Then, I played the recording of Shel Silverstein reading it twice. While they listened, I had students circle examples of alliteration and hyperbole. Afterwards, students reported back what they found in the poem.
· Timing: My students and I discussed alliteration and hyperbole in this poem in 20 minutes.
· Shel Silverstein’s reading of this poem is a delight, and it transformed a funny poem into a laugh-out-loud experience. I would recommend that any teacher who uses this poem also pair it with the recording to do it justice. This poem was a huge hit with my eighth graders, and I played it a second time due to popular demand. Everyone laughed, and the elementary-level of the poem made it accessible to all students as they practiced with these figurative language concepts for the first time. It was also a boon to me as a teacher because I could address two types of figurative language in one poem. Auditory learners benefited from the recording, and visual learners were able to read along.
Mood
· Sources:
· Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, DVD, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (New York: Warner Brothers, 2004).
· The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973; reprint, New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2007).
· Length: The film clip is approximately four minutes (chapter 7, from 18:15 until 22:30). The book The Dark is Rising is 230 pages, but I used only two paragraphs on pages 12-13.
· Scaffolding: The film is easily understood by eighth graders, who also did not become scared by the dementors. The book is written at a middle school level, although when I transcribed the text onto a handout I altered the British vocabulary to a more familiar American English vocabulary (“rooks” became “birds”).
· Usage
· Because mood is the feeling or atmosphere of a scene/passage, students need to be able to visualize the scene that the author paints. To help students visualize what happens in a literary scene, I began the mood lesson with a more visual medium—film—to help them see the components that create mood. After practice on an actual film, we transitioned to a literary passage that created the same mood using words. This approach also emphasized my essential question of “seeing the movie in your head.”
· The passage from The Dark is Rising is filled with figurative language, and so it an excellent exercise for students to use to identify similes, metaphors, etc.
· Methodology: I showed the clip from the third Harry Potter film where the dementors enter on the train. After watching the clip, I had students write down everything they saw and heard. Then I asked them what mood or atmosphere those elements created. Students replied that it was “ominous,” “creepy,” and “dark.” Then we read a corresponding passage from The Dark is Rising that strikes the same mood using similarly cold, violent weather. I asked the students the same question: what about the author’s description and use of figurative language created a vivid mood? The film bridged mood with the text and emphasized the need to visualize when reading.
· To see the worksheet that I used, see Appendix #5.
· Timing: The film and passage analysis takes 30-45 minutes.
· This approach to mood benefits visual learners and resistant readers. Although most of the students enjoyed the opportunity to watch Harry Potter, two of my evangelical students were not permitted to watch the film, and so they either left the room or put their heads down.
Media Literacy Websites for Students
· Source: PBS Kids: Don’t Buy It—Get Media Smart! Site: http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/
· Length: This is a multi-page website that allows kids to explore the (in)famous tricks that advertisers use to create their ads.
· Scaffolding: This website is at a middle school level. The text is minimal, and it uses many graphics and videos.
· Highlights of the website:
· “What’s in an Ad”: analysis of advertisers’ use of catchy slogans, funny jokes and famous people to sell products. The site has links to familiar Pepsi, Levis, and Cigarette ads.
· “Cover model secrets”: Although this isn’t tightly tied to figurative language or ad campaigns, the step-by-step transformation (read: manipulation) of a model’s picture can send an affirming message to middle school girls.
· “Create a pop star”: Students choose-their-own-adventure as managers for an up-and-coming popstar.
· Methodology:
· Teachers could create a scavenger hunt through the website.
· If computers are limited, teachers could show students single parts of the website (like “What’s in an Ad” analysis of major advertising campaigns) as a jumping-off point for a class discussion.
· A possible follow-up homework assignment could be for students to watch TV or read a magazine and identify one advertising trick that is being used (and perhaps bonus points if the ad also uses figurative language!).
· This site would be fun for students who watch a lot of TV because they will be subconsciously familiar with the tricks and the ads cited on this website. Visual learners, auditory learners, and weak readers will also enjoy interacting with the website, including polls on the site.
Media Literacy and Figurative Language Resources for Teachers
· Source: “Immersed in Verse.” By Allan Wolf. (Writing, Apr-May 2007, p16-18).
· This article gives an overview of essential poetic terms, their definitions, and memorable examples that demonstrate them. For a teacher, this is a critical tool from which to extract sources (beyond the ones presented in this Annotated Resource Library), and it presents a way to explain these terms at a middle school level.
· I learned the nitty-gritty differences between similes and metaphors (beyond the simple “like” and “as” tell-tale difference), and it revealed to me the intricacies and hazards of using rhyme.
15. Teaching Poetry Writing: Poetry Café
· Source: “The Poetry Café Is Open! Teaching Literary Devices of Sound in Poetry Writing.” By Beth Kovalcik and Janine L. Certo. (Reading Teacher Sep. 2007. p89-93). This source is available on EBSCOHost.
· Contents: This is an article by two elementary teachers about how they structured a week of poetry lessons. Although some of their ideas would have to be adapted for a middle school classroom, their approach to “Collaborative Poetry” is excellent. I used a similar technique with my eighth graders, where they brainstormed adjectives and verbs that we later expanded into similes using a graphic organizer. The concept of a café to perform poetry in front of parents and friends is a brilliant summative assessment that also builds classroom culture.
16. The theory of mind behind figurative language
· Source: “Mapping Metaphor: This is Your Brain on Figurative Language.” By Kenneth W. Krause (Humanist, Jul/Aug2008, p13-16). This source is available on EBSCOHost.
· Contents: This 4-page article provides a survey of scientific findings about how the brain processes figurative language and irony in comparison to literal statements.
· Conclusions:
· The mind reads salient/common metaphors differently from novel ones. For example, a common/clichéd metaphor like “She worked like a hurricane” activates the left side of the brain in the same way that a literal statement would. However, more complex comparisons (that can be either metaphors, similes or uncommon comparisons such as “the camel was a good friend”) activate the right side of the brain. This distinction not only explains why a student’s head may hurt after tackling complex metaphors, but furthermore it shows that there is an actual biological response to clichéd metaphors beyond the typical cringe.
· It shows that there is an actual biological process for understanding figurative language. Aha! So mixing metaphors could actually be considered good brain exercise for unwilling students…
[[#_ftnref1|[1]]] The You Tube links for these clips are current as of December 2008. If the link becomes broken, I recommend you search on You Tube using the title of the ad and the product name.